Empowering value co-creation: Product and technology development in power asymmetric buyer-supplier relationships from the perspective of a weaker supplier

Abstract

This research explores value co-creation practices for product and technology development within power asymmetric buyer-supplier relationships in their early stages. In terms of value co-creation practices, we focus on how buyers and suppliers contribute to benefits and impact costs, whereas for power, we focus on their influence on distribution of costs and benefits within the relationship. Through a qualitative study, we analyse 18 buyer-supplier dyads, each featuring a collaborative product and technology development process between a less powerful supplier and an influential buyer. The findings reveal that these co-creation practices served as a platform for mutual learning and knowledge creation, which provided the suppliers with a reinforced capacity to generate benefits for the buyers and mitigate the power asymmetry. To conclude, we put forward a framework along with a set of propositions designed to inspire further research on assessing supplier opportunities when navigating power asymmetric product and technology development relationships.